Germany's Maria Adebahr Highlights India's Crucial Role in Global Cybersecurity

At the Carnegie Global Technology Summit, India's growing influence in global digital governance and artificial intelligence (AI) was a major topic of discussion. Many international leaders emphasized India's important role in shaping a secure, inclusive, and innovative cyberspace.

Maria Adebahr, the Director for Cyber, Foreign, and Security Policy at Germany's Federal Foreign Office, spoke about India’s crucial role in the digital world. She said, “This conference is a great opportunity to strengthen our relationship with India. Given the geopolitical situation, India is an important country to work with.” Adebahr stressed that democracies around the world must cooperate to ensure cyberspace is safe, transparent, and accessible. She also highlighted that AI should be inclusive and secure by design, with India setting a strong example due to its vast population and digital services.

Jon Simonsson, Senior Director at Sweden's Prime Minister's Office, praised India’s innovation ecosystem. He noted that India’s knowledge base and favorable environment for innovation could position it as a leader in high-tech development. However, he also emphasized the need for more support for students and entrepreneurs. Simonsson suggested making it easier for them to pursue their ideas and start new ventures. He pointed out the importance of funding, mentioning that India has over 100 unicorns (startups valued over a billion dollars), which could invest in growing the sector.

Lt. Gen. (Retd) Raj Shukla, a member of India’s Union Public Service Commission, discussed India’s success in ventures like DeepSeek, driven by talent and innovative algorithms. He called for deregulation to unlock India’s full potential, saying, “Innovation and regulations don’t go together.”

Throughout the summit, attendees highlighted that India’s leadership in deep learning and AI is based not only on talent and startups but also on creating an environment that encourages openness, experimentation, and long-term investment.